RIA Cybersecurity and IT Services for Wealth Managers
A registered investment adviser holds the kind of information a thief can turn into money the same afternoon: account numbers, custodian logins, statements, tax returns and the trust that lets a client take a phone call about moving funds. The SEC now expects a written incident response program and prompt client notification, examiners ask for evidence rather than intent, and the firm's principal is usually also its compliance officer. NetSys provides IT services for RIAs that treat the security program as part of the compliance program, with controls that can be shown rather than described.
The short answer
NetSys provides IT services for RIAs, wealth management firms and financial planners: help desk and 24/7 monitoring, Microsoft 365 configured with the identity, conditional access and email protections an SEC examiner expects, custodian and portfolio platform access protected with multifactor authentication and privileged access management, email and messaging archived to satisfy books and records rules, encrypted email for client documents, managed endpoint detection on every adviser laptop, and immutable backups with restores performed and timed. We implement and evidence the safeguards the amended Regulation S-P requires, including the technical side of the incident response program and service provider oversight. Interpreting the rules and filing with regulators stays with your chief compliance officer or counsel. Client identities never appear in our marketing. Every agreement runs month to month.
Sound familiar?
- Custodian and portfolio platform logins shared among advisers and assistants
- Client statements and tax documents sent as plain email attachments
- Text messages with clients that never reach the archive an examiner will ask for
- An SEC exam letter requesting the written information security program and incident response plan, neither of which exists
- A distribution request that came from a client's compromised email account
- Vendors with access to client data and no documented oversight of them
What we deliver for RIAs
Regulation S-P, Implemented
- Written information security program mapped to the safeguards and disposal rules
- Incident response program with the detection, containment and notification steps documented
- Service provider oversight: an inventory of vendors touching client data and what each has agreed to
- Evidence packaged the way examiners request it
Access to Client Money, Controlled
- Multifactor authentication and named logins across custodian, trading and planning platforms
- Privileged access management for administrative rights on firm systems
- Conditional access that blocks logins from unmanaged devices and unexpected locations
- Verification procedures for money movement requests, with training on impersonation
Records, Archived and Recoverable
- Email and messaging archived to meet books and records retention
- Encrypted email and a client portal path for statements, tax forms and account documents
- Immutable backups of Microsoft 365, file shares and firm systems, with restores timed
- Disaster recovery plan written for a firm that must answer clients during a market event
Adviser Devices and Help Desk
- Managed endpoint detection and disk encryption on every laptop and phone with client data
- Onboarding and offboarding tied to adviser transitions, including custodian access removal
- A dedicated account manager with a cell number, so the principal is not filing tickets
- AI automation for meeting notes, follow-up letters and document collection, with data kept inside the firm's tenant
RIA compliance: the SEC rules your IT has to evidence
An examiner reads an adviser's cybersecurity through its written policies and the records behind them. Your CCO and counsel own interpretation and filings; we implement the controls and keep the evidence in order.
Regulation S-P, amended 2024 (17 CFR 248.30)
Advisers keep written safeguards and disposal policies, run an incident response program, oversee service providers that must report breaches within 72 hours, and tell affected clients within 30 days when sensitive customer information was, or is reasonably likely to have been, accessed without authorization. Every adviser's compliance date has passed.
Identity theft red flags: Regulation S-ID (17 CFR 248.201)
Advisers that can move client money to third parties on a client's instructions hold covered accounts and need a written program to spot red flags, such as a changed email address followed by a distribution request. The program is updated as fraud patterns change.
Books and records: Rule 204-2(a)(7) and (e)(1)
Written communications about advice, orders and fund movements are kept for five years from the end of the fiscal year of the last entry, the first two in an appropriate office. Texts and messaging apps are records when they carry that content.
State-registered advisers
Advisers registered with a state answer to their state securities regulator, and several states have adopted information security and privacy rules for advisers. The technical controls are the same, so we build to the SEC standard and a firm that grows into SEC registration keeps its program.
NY SHIELD Act (GBL §899-aa and §899-bb)
Client records of New York residents fall under the Act. An adviser in compliance with Regulation S-P is treated as meeting the Act's safeguard section, while the duty to notify affected New Yorkers within 30 days of a discovered breach still applies.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations with counsel.
Adviser software we support around
CRM, portfolio management, custodian and archiving platforms hold most of an RIA's client records. We keep each adviser's and assistant's access in them matched to their role, secure the devices they sign in from, and coordinate with the vendor when a platform issue is on their side.
Redtail CRM
Wealthbox
Orion
Schwab Advisor Services
Global Relay
Product names are their owners’ trademarks. We manage the devices, accounts and access around these applications and work with each vendor’s support. A listing here doesn’t mean we resell an application or partner with its maker.
IT services for an RIA that received an SEC exam letter
The specific engagements behind this profile are under NDA, so it is written as a generalization rather than a named client. Our published, client-approved outcomes are in case studies.
A fee-only adviser with a handful of partners and support staff received an examination request that included the firm's information security policies, incident response plan, vendor list and evidence of access controls. The firm had good intentions and no documents. Advisers logged into the custodian with shared credentials saved in a browser, client tax returns arrived and left as email attachments, and one adviser texted clients from a personal phone.
- Named custodian and platform logins for every user, multifactor authentication enforced, shared credentials retired
- Microsoft 365 hardened with conditional access, Defender for Business and encrypted email for client documents
- A compliant archive for email and approved text messaging, with personal-phone texting replaced by a firm-managed channel
- A written information security program, incident response program and vendor inventory drafted with the chief compliance officer and dated to the controls behind them
- Immutable backups with a restore performed, and a disaster recovery plan the partners walked through together
The intended result is an exam response backed by documents that describe real controls, money movement requests that follow a verification step, and a principal who spends exam preparation reviewing evidence rather than writing policy from scratch.
Work we have done for wealth management clients
- Wealth management
RIA firm
Barracuda email protection for 117 licensed users, email archiving, cybersecurity monitoring, and account access management.
Client names are withheld. Each card is the scope of a real NetSys engagement, as delivered.
RIAs & Wealth Management IT FAQs
Do you provide IT services for RIAs that are state-registered rather than SEC-registered?
Yes. Smaller advisers registered with a state securities regulator face similar expectations, and many states have adopted their own information security rules for advisers. The technical work is the same: multifactor authentication, named access to custodian platforms, encrypted communications, archiving, backups and a written program. We implement to the stricter standard so a firm that grows into SEC registration does not start over.
What does Regulation S-P require from a small RIA?
The amended rule requires a written incident response program covering detection, response and recovery from unauthorized access to customer information, notification to affected individuals within 30 days of becoming aware of a breach in most cases, oversight of service providers that handle customer information, and safeguards and disposal practices for that information. Compliance dates have now passed for advisers of every size. We implement and evidence the technical controls; your compliance officer owns the interpretation and the filing.
How should advisers send tax returns and statements to clients?
Encrypted, and preferably through a portal rather than an attachment. Encrypted email works for one-off documents and protects the message in transit and at rest. A portal is better for recurring documents, because clients and staff stop searching inboxes and the firm keeps an access record. Both are covered in the agreement, and we train staff so the secure path is the easy one.
Can you archive our text messages and email for SEC books and records?
Yes. Email archiving is configured within Microsoft 365 with retention that matches the firm's recordkeeping obligations. Text messaging is archived through an approved channel on firm-managed phones or an app the archive captures. Personal-phone texting with clients is the gap examiners have been pursuing, so we replace it rather than paper over it.
We already use a compliance consultant. Why do we need an IT firm too?
The consultant writes and interprets policy. Someone has to make the policy true on the systems: turn on the controls, keep them on, log what happens and produce evidence. We work with compliance consultants regularly and stay in our lane. They tell us what the program must do; we build it and hand back proof.
Do you require a long-term contract?
No. RIA agreements run month to month, like all of ours. Firms that are preparing for an exam or an acquisition sometimes bring us in for a defined project first; ongoing support continues only while it is worth paying for. Your policies and evidence belong to the firm and leave with you if you ever do.
What does RIA cybersecurity include?
RIA cybersecurity is the set of controls that protects client accounts and proves it to an examiner. It includes MFA and named logins on custodian and CRM platforms, managed and encrypted devices, email defense, archiving of email and approved messaging, immutable backups, service provider oversight and an incident response program that meets Regulation S-P.
What IT support does an RIA need day to day?
An RIA needs a help desk that reaches an engineer, Microsoft 365 administration, custodian and CRM access changed the day a role changes, managed laptops and phones, archiving that captures every approved channel, and backups that have been restored in a test. The principal should not be the person resetting passwords before a client meeting.
How do you protect custodian and portfolio platform logins?
Every user gets a named login with MFA, and nobody shares an adviser's credentials, not even with an assistant. Platform roles match the job, sign-ins from unmanaged devices are blocked where the platform supports it, and access is removed the day someone leaves. Service accounts and any unavoidable shared credentials live in Keeper, with changes logged.
What should an adviser do when a client's email asks for a distribution?
Verify it by phone at a number already on file, before anything moves. A compromised client mailbox is one of the red flags a Regulation S-ID program should name, and changed contact details followed by a money request is the classic pattern. Record the callback in the CRM so the check itself becomes evidence.
Guides for rias & wealth management leaders
- Regulation S-P Cybersecurity Requirements for RIAs
- SEC Cybersecurity for RIAs
- Our Financial Services Practice
- Encrypted Email for Client Documents
- financial services cyber security
- family office cybersecurity in Fairfield County
- managed IT and cybersecurity in Red Bank
- Westchester family office IT
- cybersecurity for Short Hills advisory firms
- What small RIAs do now that Reg S-P is in force
- How long RIAs keep email and texts under Rule 204-2
- Privileged access controls for custodian and firm admin accounts
- IT support for hedge fund managers
- Password and permissions management for RIAs
Other industries we support
Services behind this work
Scope support around the way your team works.
Tell us which applications, locations and deadlines matter to your rias & wealth management team. We will discuss support, security, backup and project responsibilities in one clear scope.